Monday, 8 November 2004

Monday, 1 November 2004

Excitement, adventure and an adrenaline junkie spirit provoked the paleo trip of all paleo trips. A team of elite paleo enthusiasts were flown into the Tyaughton area near Castle Peak north of Goldbridge in a new Jet Ranger to experience a trip of a lifetime. "Love being out here and seeing so much of this beautiful country from the air," the words of our competent pilot.

The group were originally interested in coming here to check out the fossils and did our first trip in 2001. Interested in the local geology and fossils from the Jurassic/Triassic exposures high in the alpine, we've arranged to get flown in to gain easier access and keep some of the riskier elements away. It is possible to hike in but with four seasons possible in a day up here, we'd risk getting snowed in well before we'd ever reach the site.

Camping at about 7,500 ft, we were get snow, hail, high winds and sunshine... collecting over the course of the week.

Past trips have included grizzlies at close quarters. This year we saw fresh tracks each day, but the bears were actively avoiding our camp but still leaving enough scat to give us the heads up that this is their territory. We got some great shots of other wildlife.

Peter Bryant captured a fabulous moment with a resident marmot. A few whistles and her curious little face was immortalized for all to see. Over the course of the week we also saw a buck with a sexy set of horns (always a hit with the does... ) flocks of Franciscans and a majestic lone wolf.

The area is home to active research by UBC budding paleontologist, Louise Longridge and boasts abundant ammonites, bivalves, belemnites AND have a chance to see the Triassic-Jurassic boundary – a rare treat.

PALEONTOLOGICAL GEMS

desolation sound

FOUR RAINDROPS...

Four individual raindrops falling on the high peaks of the Rockies could easily end up thousands of miles apart -- one flowing north to the Beaufort Sea, another reaching the the Gulf of Mexico, a third would be absorbed into Hudson Bay to the east and the last into the vast Pacific.

Nature Blog Network

TYAUGHTON

Paleontology News

TYAUGHTON FOSSIL FIELD TRIP

PaleoWire

solnhofen

WEST COAST

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KITSILANO KANE

GODS OF THE SEA

Ammonites were a group of hugely successful aquatic molluscs that looked like the still extant Nautilus, a coiled shellfish that lives off the southern coast of Asia. While the Nautilus lived on, ammonites graced our waters from around 400 million years ago until the end of the Cretaceous, 65 million years.

COHO FISHING | SEYMOUR INLET

Hunt Family Potlatch

EQUUS FERUS CABALLUS

world PALEONTOLOGY

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CUDDLY CUTIE PIES

Building British Columbia

Some 270 million plus years ago, had one wanted to buy waterfront property in what is now British Columbia, you’d be looking somewhere between Prince George and the Alberta border.

Explore Inspire Experience

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FOSSILHUNTRESS TRACKS

HEIDI, DANIEL & CHARLES HELM

NEWSVINE

SUNSHINE COAST

Scientific American

EN PROVENCE

MYOMANCY | MICE PREDICTOR

Myomancy was a method of divination by mice. Their behaviour was observed and taken as a omen of what was to come. Modern scientists study the movements of mice more than the ancient myomancers did and for ends that are not dissimilar.

SISTERS | NIGHT AND DAY

ALPINE ADVENTURE

Heidi Henderson | Fossil Huntress

DIATRYMA TRACKWAY

Rare bird, reptile and mammal tracks have been immortalized in the outcrops of the Chuckanut Formation. Diatryma tracks have also been found there. These massive flightless birds reached up to 9 feet in height and made a living in the grasslands and swamps of the Eocene.

Best Friends

TROPICAL CHUCKANUT

The siltstones, sandstones, mudstones and conglomerates of the Chuckanut Formation were laid down about 40-54 million years ago during the Eocene epoch, a time of luxuriant plant growth in the subtropical flood plain that covered much of the Pacific Northwest.

PALEONTOLOGICAL EXPLORER

TUMBLER RIDGE TRACKWAY

T-REX

OLYMPIC PENINSULA

One of the most beautiful drives in the Pacific Northwest is the coastline along the Olympic Peninsula from Port Angeles to Neah Bay. This stretch of road meanders alongside the Clallam Formation, a thick, mainly marine sequence of sandstones and siltstones that line the northwestern margin of the Olympic Peninsula, western Washington.

DINOSAUR TRACK

oregon paleontology

The Farallon Plate took a turn north some 57 million years ago, sweeping much of western coastal Oregon along with it. By the middle Oligocene, the Cascadia Subduction Zone was in full force with growing pressure erupting volcanoes along the Western Cascades, a pattern that was to continue well into the Miocene. The soft ocean sediments of Oregon contain beautifully preserved gastropods, bivalves and cephalopods.

BLESS GOOD FRIENDS

rain or shine

Rain long foretold takes a long time to pass; if it arrives on short notice, it soon will pass. For the folks I go out collecting with all hikes, digs and kayak trips are rain or shine. Safety is always top of mind and prepping for the weather is paramount. Keep yourself safe whatever part of the world you choose to explore. For forecasts of marine weather in Vancouver call 604.666.3655 or visit http://www.weatheroffice.com/

EXPLORING PARADISE

DEEP COVE

SEARCHING FOR SOMETHING?

ARTWORK BY TINA BEARD

Tina Beard is an artist and paleo enthusiast on Vancouver Island. She does some of the most exquisite artwork I've had the pleasure to behold.